New Thailand stamp with Padauk Flower

Thiland Post issues new stamp on 1st June 2019 for the commemoration of ASEAN chairmanship of Thailand.  The single stamp issues featured bouquet of national flowers of ASEAN countries tied with the Thai flag ribbon.  Face value of each stamp is at 3 bath and one sheets contains 10 pcs.

Stamp design

Sheet

First Day Cover by Thailand Post

"MANADALAY" postmark named wrongly

While introducing new and standardized postmarks in 2018, Mandalay GPO has an interesting event. One of its new postmark comes with the wrong spelling of "MANADALAY" instead of "MANDALAY".  Once public and officials noticed, it was widthdrawn from GPO.  It was used about a month, I believed.  As Mandalay GPO is the high grade PO, it has more then one set of new postmark.  I have also received one postcard with the correct town name which was used on same day.  The wrong and correctly spelled postmarks are compared below.

The new postmarks were introduced on 9 Oct 2018. The new set of postmarks (Burmese and English) were distributed to 778 full service post offices around the country.

The month of Kason

The fifth stamp of the festivals series is for the month of Kason and it was issued on 4 May. It is the 1st Waxing of Kason.


Kason (May) is the second month of the Burmese lunar calendar.  As it falls in the middle of summer, the water in ponds and lakes reduces to its lowest level.  Burmese celebrates by pouring water at the holy Bodhi tree where the Buddha enlightened to keep it green. The stamp for the month of Kason featured its seasonal flowers Sagarwar [Michelia Champaca] and Bodhi Tree watering festival.

Stamp design

Public Announcement

Technical Details of Stamps

Date of Issue : 4 May 2019

Printer : Security Printing Works (Myanmar)

Printing Process : Offset

Stamp Size and Format : 84 mm x 30 mm (Horizontal)

Color : 4

Perforation : 14

Denomination : K200

Sheet Composition :  30 Stamps per Sheet
Quantity : 150,000 pcs each design
Stamp Designers : Wai Zin Paing (MPS)

Maxicard

 

Grab your copies at my eBay store.

First Day Covers

Official FDC by Myanmar Post, sent from Mandalay

MPS FDC (950 Covers) [MPS-FDC-029]

U Mya Thaung

Aung San Suu Kyi stamp of 2019 from S.TOME & PRINCIPE

New stamp featuring Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was found in online markets.  The stamp was issued S.Tome & Principe on 10th April 2019.   The unusual shaped miniature sheet shows the Nobel Laureates around the world, on the world map.  Sao Tome & Principe is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa.

Full listing of stamps featuring Aung San Suu Kyi can be found here.

Rare 1938 FDC of China Arts Co.,

The cover illustrated below is the 1938 First Day Cover prepared by China Arts Co., cancelled Rangoon G.P.O REG, and Rangoon registration label affixed at the back.  Registration Receipt is attached at the back of the cover.  The cover is backstamped Registration Rangoon DELY mark 15 Nov 38.  It is the philatelic cover with excess postage.

Back of the cover

Richards's Who Was Who in Burma Philately indexed China Arts Co. as Dealers, at Wyndham St., Hong Kong. Their Rangoon addresss – 345 Phayre St. – appears on fdc’s from 1938
onwards.  The Rangoon address was noted as different.

Maiden Voyage Covers

The Maiden Voyage Covers were posted on High Seas, on the Maiden Voyage (first journey) of S.S. EXECUTOR of Ameri-can Export Lines. The American Export Lines operated a number of passenger/cargo ships with the names such as "Excalibur","Excambion" etc. with accomodation for twelve passengers, of which the "Executor" was one. The boat leaves New York 4 Nov to her farthermost port, Rangoon, Burma. This cover appears to be prepared as a courtesy to the ship's crew and passengers by the purchaser which was not posted until the ship called at Rangoon.  In Rangoon, the Maiden Voyage covers was affixed with Burma Centenary stamps and cancelled on 2 Jan 1941.  It attracted the censorship mark PASSED CENSOR 9 RANGOON.

 

The S.S. Executor ship was launched on 21 Sep 1940 and it was delivered to American Exports Line on 22 Oct 1940.  It has made her Maiden Voyage to India two times for conversion to cargo ship for the acquisition of US Navy.  US Navy acquired S.S. Executor on 3 Jun 1941 and commissioned it on 15 Jun 1941.  After acquisition, S.S. Executor was renamed as Almaack and classified as AK-27.

Almaack

The following card was found in one of the Maiden Voyage covers.

The month of Tagu

The fourth stamp of the festivals series is for the month of Tagu and it was issued on 5 Apr. It is the 1st Waxing of Tagu. One empty first day cover was sold at 200 Kyats.

The stamp for the month of Tagu featured its seasonal flowers Padauk [Pterocarpus macrocarpus] and Gantgaw [Mesua ferrea] and water festival.  Burmese New Year festival, known as Thingyan, is held in the month of Tagu (April).  It celebrates over a period of four to five days.  People splashes water at one another during the celebration and it means washing away one’s sins of the previous year.

Stamp design

Newspaper announcement

Though the stamp depicts two flowers, the actual seasonal flower is Gantgaw flower according to Burmese old literatures.  But, Padauk is well known and famous these days and treated as de facto national flower.  So, after rounds of discussions and design drafts, Myanmar Post recommended to design with two flowers.

Technical Details of Stamps

Date of Issue : 5 April 2019

Printer : Security Printing Works (Myanmar)

Printing Process : Offset

Stamp Size and Format : 84 mm x 30 mm (Horizontal)

Color : 4

Perforation : 14

Denomination : K200

Sheet Composition :  30 Stamps per Sheet
Quantity : 150,000 pcs each design
Stamp Designers : Wai Zin Paing (MPS)

Maxicard

 Grab your copies at my eBay store.

Official FDC by Myanmar Post (Mandalay postmark)

FDC by Myanmar Philatelic Society (1000 covers) [MPS-FDC-028]

U Mya Thaung